ADD/ADHD: Help for Kids and Families

ADD/ADHD
is perhaps the most over diagnosed, most misunderstood, and worst named
“disorder” that kids, parents, and teachers can face.

It
is often over diagnosed because ADD/ADHD’s most obvious and outward characteristic
(seeming distracted or forgetful) often occurs for many reasons other than a
child having ADD/ADHD. And ADD/ADHD is often misdiagnosed because it can
express itself very differently in different people. ADD/ADHD is also is very often misunderstood
because people often think that distractibility is the primary issue; however,
attention issues are only one outward symptom of a complex set of cognitive
characteristics; the brain of a person who is ADD/ADHD actually works
differently than the norm—a difference that does not always integrate well with
the way contemporary America thinks, educates, and lives. And, lastly, ADD/ADHD
is horribly named because the name misleads people into thinking that attention
deficit is the issue that must be resolved when deficits in attention are a
comparatively minor characteristic of a much more complex situation—a situation
that an ADD/ADHD person (and their families) will have to manage for a
lifetime.A further thought: ADD/ADHD
often co-occurs with one or more other issues such as anxiety, depression, learning
disabilities, sensory issues, chemical dependency and even Tourette’s Syndrome,
Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and Conduct Disorders.

Many
people who misunderstand ADD/ADHD roll their eyes at what they perceive as an
imaginary issue.Conversely, many people who have (shall we say) unruly, disorganized, or distracted children often want to
attribute those behaviors to ADD/ADHD rather than poor behavior.But, kids who are genuinely ADD/ADHD and
their families know the complexity and frustration of the situation that they
have on their hands.

Below
are a number of resources—from the celebratory to the hilarious to the helpful
to the clinical-- that can provide information about ADD/ADHD; the links also
offer help for affected kids and parents.